Srinagar faces dearth of drinking water supply

Srinagar, Jan 12: Amid a prolonged dry spell last year, several areas in Srinagar have been grappling with severe piped drinking water shortage and residents mostly rely on water tanker supplies.

Data accessed by Greater Kashmir reveals that there is a growing demand for tanker water supply in Srinagar’s residential areas as well as in government institutions. Following the scarcity of tap water, the PHE department has been pressing tanker water supply in service in the affected areas. The data reveals that in 2024, PHE department supplied over 1277 lakh liters of water through tankers in various areas in Srinagar only.

Officials said that PHE supplied an average of 3.5 lakh liters of water per day in 2024 via tankers. They said that the department supplied over 100 lakh liters of water per month by tankers in 2024. They claimed that the department has been vigorously working to meet the demand of water supply via tankers.

“This does not include water supplied on an emergency basis like when sometimes there is a problem in tap water supply and other emergency requirements,” said an official.

The official data reveals that various areas in Srinagar have been increasingly dependent on water supply via tankers. These areas include Salfia Colony Batmaloo, Kohnakhan Dalgate, Shivpora, Khan Colony Batmaloo, Firdous Abad Batamaloo, Hyderpora, Sanat Nagar, Peerbagh, Khanyar, Aloochi Bagh Interior, SD Colony Batmaloo, Budshah Nagar , Rajbagh and others. Data reveals that areas like Khan Colony , Salfia Colony, Firdous Abad Batmaloo is supplied around one lakh liters of water daily, Khonakhan Dalgate  is supplied 60,000 liters daily, and Shivpora 10,000 liters daily respectively.

Official data reveals that hospitals, government institutions, and security forces are provided water via tankers. Data reveals that these include Old Secretariat (CRPF), MLA Hostel, IMPA, Old Assembly Complex/CAT Lal Chowk (20,000 Liters daily), Shankaraya Acharya Temple, S.P.T.V. Tower CRPF/Temple (20,000 liters Daily), D.C. Office / Div. Com. Office (CRPF) Lal chowk (15,000 liters daily), B&J Hospital Barzulla  (15,000 liters daily), SMHS Hospital (10,000 liters daily) respectively.

Although the dependency on tanker water has been huge over the past few years, official data reveals that the number of tankers supplying this water has ironically decreased. Data reveals that as there were 15 tankers available to supply water between 2020—2022, the number has come down to only 13 tankers between 2023-2024, which has burdened the drivers on the ground.

Asstt. Executive Engineer Mechanical Sub Division PHE,  M Aasif said that they have been supplying lakhs of liters of water daily to people and government institutions. He said that his team has been working vigorously to meet the demand of public so that they don’t face any inconvenience.

“We are expecting two more water tankers to be added to the fleet. We have restored two previously used water tankers that have been added to the fleet since this month. We are also improving on the strategy of supplying water on a daily basis, and I’m glad that with economic and judicious use,” he said.

“We have saved over Rs 36 lakh on fuel and lubricants in 2023-24. There are certain areas, including government institutions, which are dependent on tanker water supply, and we have continuously met the demand,” Aasif said, adding the dry spell and other issues pushed them to supply water on a routine and on-demand basis.